TOLEDO, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 6, 2004--Health Care REIT, Inc. (NYSE:HCN) announced today that it completed $297.5 million of gross investments during the third quarter of 2004.

The investment activity during the quarter was approximately 93 percent real property investments and seven percent loans. Facility-based investments included 56 percent assisted living facilities and 44 percent skilled nursing facilities. Investments for the quarter included the acquisition of 18 assisted living facilities with 1,645 units and 16 skilled nursing facilities with 2,226 beds. These new facilities represented $269.5 million of the investment activity for the quarter. During the quarter, the company had no asset sales or loan payoffs. For the nine months ended September 30, 2004, the company completed gross investments of $459.0 million, offset by $33.8 million of asset sales, which generated a total of $425.2 million of net new investments.

The company also confirmed that it will release its 2004 third quarter earnings results after the market closes on October 19, 2004. A conference call is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Eastern time on October 20, 2004 to discuss these results. The information to be discussed on the call will be contained in the company's earnings release, which will be available on the press releases page of the company's Web site at www.hcreit.com.

The conference call will be accessible by telephone and through the Internet. Telephone access will be available by dialing 973-582-2767 or 877-825-5811. Callers to this number will be able to listen to the company's business update. For those unable to listen to the call live, a taped rebroadcast will be available beginning two hours after completion of the live call on October 20, 2004 through October 27, 2004. To access the rebroadcast, dial 973-341-3080 or 877-519-4471. The conference ID number is 5210531. To participate on the webcast, log on to www.hcreit.com or www.fulldisclosure.com 15 minutes before the call to download the necessary software. A replay will be available on these Web sites for 90 days.

Health Care REIT, Inc., with headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, is a real estate investment trust that invests in health care facilities, primarily skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. For more information on Health Care REIT, Inc., via facsimile at no cost, dial 1-800-PRO-INFO and enter the company code - HCN. More information is available on the Internet at www.hcreit.com.

This document may contain "forward-looking" statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements concern the possible expansion of the company's portfolio; the performance of its operators and properties; its ability to enter into agreements with new viable tenants for properties which it takes back from financially troubled tenants, if any; its ability to make distributions; its policies and plans regarding investments, financings and other matters; its tax status as a real estate investment trust; its ability to appropriately balance the use of debt and equity; and its ability to access capital markets or other sources of funds. When the company uses words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," or similar expressions, it is making forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties. The company's expected results may not be achieved, and actual results may differ materially from expectations. This may be a result of various factors, including, but not limited to: the status of the economy; the status of capital markets, including prevailing interest rates; compliance with and changes to regulations and payment policies within the health care industry; changes in financing terms; competition within the health care and senior housing industries; and changes in federal, state and local legislation. Finally, the company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements.

    CONTACT: Health Care REIT, Inc.
             Ray Braun, 419-247-2800
             Mike Crabtree, 419-247-2800
             Scott Estes, 419-247-2800

    SOURCE: Health Care REIT, Inc.